What was your favorite meal, favorite book, or favorite TV show when you were eight years old? How did you see the world? Fast forward to when you were in high school. How would your answers change? Now think about today; are your answers different? We’d be in deep trouble if we didn’t grow up and expand our tastes, knowledge, and skills. Unfortunately for many Catholics, when it comes to faith formation, we put on […]
Quick question . . . have you checked Facebook today? Chances are you have, and you’re not alone. Facebook reports more than 800 million mobile active users alone. For many, social media and social networking are synonymous with Facebook. Users range from pre-teens to senior citizens. Now imagine being able to harness even a fraction of that interest and activity level for your religious education program. Believe it or not, it isn’t as tough as […]
My favorite radio station in Chicago—WXRT, 93.1 FM—features a movie critic who goes by the name of “The Regular Guy.” Since 1984, DJ Marty Lennartz has portrayed a stereotypical gritty Chicagoan giving his take on the current motion picture hits. The bit is brilliant, of course, because listeners fashion themselves as “regular people” who can relate to this movie critic who has no airs about him. That explains my answer to the question, “Who do you […]
I’m old enough to remember how Jackie Gleason would say, “And awaaaay we go!” at the beginning of his TV show every week. Those words popped into my mind as we kicked off the catechetical year at St. Cajetan Parish last week. We began with a prayer service in church, which included blessings of the parents, children, catechists, and Finding God textbooks. After some inspiring words from the pastor, Fr. Frank Kurucz, the young people were […]
Whenever I serve in my parish as a catechist, I notice something distressing: children generally have little knowledge of Bible stories. Many of them cannot connect the dots from Jesus’ birth in a stable to his Death and Resurrection. Even fewer can connect Adam and Eve to Jesus; only a few have heard of such key ancestors in faith as Abraham, Moses, and David; and almost none of them realize how they personally are connected […]
As catechists, we always need to evaluate the way we present lessons to our classes. An approach that may work for one group may not work for another. For example, I was teaching a frisky group of second graders about the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. However, all of the old tricks that had been effective with my other classes seemed to fall flat with this group. I was being challenged as […]
Dear Lord Jesus, You are the model teacher. Let me look to you as an example and come to you for comfort on the bad days and to share my joy on the good ones. Help me remember that the work of catechesis is not something I do by myself, as I pray: For my catechetical leader, that she have the strength to be an effective leader. May she find the best ways to organize […]
As a Church, we’ve been talking about adult faith formation for years and yet, here we are “beginning” the conversation at Christ the King parish. That’s not a knock on the parish—many parishes find themselves in the same boat: yet to realize what it means to make adult faith formation a priority. Thankfully, Fr. Larry Sullivan and his staff are determined to change all that! Recently, I met with Fr. Larry and the staff at […]
This Sunday, September 20, 2016, is Catechetical Sunday, with the theme of “Safeguarding the Dignity of Every Human Person.” Here is a Catechist’s Prayer from the USCCB: Father of all families, you have called me to serve the family in truth and love as a catechist. May I be faithful to this call, rooted in your Word, and open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. May I use these gifts, especially the gifts of faith, […]
As a mother of three young children, Mass can be a bit of an unpredictable experience at times. I remember one particular time when my pastor, Father Bill, called for a moment of silence during Mass and our two-year-old son Ian shouted at the top of his lungs, “Boo, boo, I scare me!” Needless to say, that moment of silence was shattered by a couple of giggles throughout the congregation. While I am always thankful […]
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